Precision in Performance: Blocking & Directing Actors

The principal focal point of this course is to purely hone the Directorial craft of the participants. Hence this workshops, strips the fluff and distils the course to the brass tacks of Directing. Through the course of the 8-day course, you will leave with robust knowledge in the following aspects:

• Communicating with actors clearly and confidently
  • Structure rehearsals with discipline and purpose
  • Integrating blocking with actor intention
  • Maintaining performance quality under time pressure

By the end of the course, you will have developed a refined and practical understanding of how to draw truthful, dynamic performances from your actors. You will learn to recognise what an actor needs in order to deliver their strongest work, how to guide them with clarity and purpose, and how to shape behaviour in a way that supports the emotional spine of the scene. You will also gain confidence in integrating purposeful movement and blocking, using the actors’ placement, rhythm, and physical choices to enhance narrative tension and drive the intensity of your story forward.

Day 1 to 5: Working with Actors

The first 5 days would be focused entirely on rehearsal, text and actor director collaboration and would explore:

• How actors train and prepare
  • The director actor relationship
  • Giving clear, playable direction
  • Objectives, action and subtext
  • Avoiding over direction
  • Structuring rehearsal with intent
  • Understanding rhythm and emotional beats

Participants work through practical exercises, alternating perspectives to understand both sides of the process. Midweek sessions include structured rehearsals with professional actors using scenes selected by Udayan. This ensures parity across the cohort and keeps attention on craft rather than material.

Day 6 & 7: Main Scene Rehearsals by incorporating Blocking

The second phase translates rehearsal into actual rehearsals and performance. Each participant will be provided a script for scene that does not include more than 2 actors.

Each director will:

• Prepare and rehearse a two-character dramatic scene
  • Focus on shaping performance through takes intensive prep
• Be organized enough to rehearse and prepare the scene within a span of 3 hours and subsequently have the actors enact it in front of the other participants
• Understanding how to incorporate movement and blocking for the actors and thereby push the envelope of storytelling.
• Learning how to dissect a script thoroughly for performance and being prepared with all answers for the actors.

Day 8: Sessions on Filming the Actors & Cinematography

Udayan Prasad will take a session on the importance of point of view when filming a scene and learning the various aspect of camera coverage when filming scenes. This session will offer a concise yet informative introduction to the fundamentals of camera coverage and the principles behind effectively filming actors. It is designed to give emerging directors a practical understanding of how shot choices, angles, and visual perspective shape performance on screen, providing them with essential tools to approach the filming process with greater confidence and intention.

This course is designed for directors who:

• Have directed short films or completed basic filmmaking training
• Have a basic understanding of production workflow
• Want to strengthen their work with actors
• Are ready for rigorous and concentrated development

It is not suitable for beginners.

Participants may be asked to submit previous work as part of the application process.